Amateur and Professional Astronomers Team up for Chandra Observations of SS Cygni (Abstract)

Volume 30 number 1 (2002)

Janet A. Mattei

Christopher W. Mauche

Abstract

(Abstract only) Triggered by alerts from AAVSO observers worldwide to AAVSO Headquarters, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory successfully observed SS Cygni in outbursts in September 2000 and January 2001 with its high and low energy transmission gratings (HETG and LETG). The HETG observations were for studying the spectrum of hard X-rays emitted by the tenuous upper “atmosphere” of the boundary layer between the accretion disk and the surface of the white dwarf, and the LETG observations were for studying the spectrum of the inner accretion disk of the boundary layer which peaks in extreme ultraviolet/soft/ X-ray energies. We discuss preliminary spectroscopic results of these observations.